Paperless Construction: How to go PAPERLESS?!

Описание: Paperless Construction
Many areas of construction have experienced a slow migration towards technology. First from paper-based documentation and storage, to digital organization, then cloud-based software, and more recently, open cloud-based platforms and mobile applications.
In this video we will take a tour of the world of paperless construction and the technological revolution that is overtaking the construction industry.
1. Emerging technologies in construction industry.
2. Use of OCR and QR codes in document & field digitization

History of Electronic Documentation in the Workplace
This idea of electronic documentation gained momentum in 1994 when InfoWorld article touting the wonders of paperless management hit the newsstands, companies like Boeing were just beginning to dip their toes into a business world without paper.
But 20 years later survey responses to Paperless Office 2014 suggested paper was so ingrained in business that it might take yet another 20 years before paperless offices become a reality.
While 68% of survey respondents agreed that continuing to use paper-based systems was an unacceptable business practice, 21% said their use of paper was increasing
When asked around why there was this Disonnect? someone pointed out, “paper is instant-on, has infinite battery life, has nonvolatile memory, and is thin, and lightweight.” Paper’s “low-refresh rate” was it’s only downside.

It turns out this disconnect has more to do with business processes than it does with paper. Many business processes were born with paper documents, making the two dependent on one another. So if those processes don’t change, paper stays. The other process problem is that when companies started converting from paper to electronic documents they did it by simply converting their paper file systems to electronic form.

Some General Advice on Going Paperless is,
Document management: look for a document management system that easily integrates with your existing back office.
Make it better: Make sure the new system is better than what’s currently in use. People might grumble a bit because they have to learn a new software, but they’ll really put up a fuss if they learn something new only to find it provides no additional value and possibly further headache.

Paperless Construction Projects
From a project perspective, moving away from paper in construction may seem challenging because of the amount of documents involved, and how many of those documents must be shared with people outside of your own company.

Some of the Everyday Construction Tech in industry which can help us overcome this challenge are
Mobile connectivity: The distance between the office and the construction site is starting to vanish thanks to tools that leverage mobile connectivity.
Efficiency has never been greater than when a manager can create an RFI in the field, the Architect can receive it in the office, and the field team can have the information they need all within minutes.
Automated Progress photos: - The days of deploying photographers and tracking their activities have given way to automation.

This started with simple job site cameras and is now evolving to entire camera systems that allow people anywhere to take virtual tours of a projects site.

Digitizing Materials: - QR codes are now combined with building information models to provide drawings and documentation directly to people when, and where they need it.

QR codes attached to the door frames of rooms, which allow project members with smartphones or tablets to scan the codes and immediately receive all current information on the space, right down to work left to do and punch list items that need attention.

And When you combine electronic documents with a cloud-based document management solution, you’ve hit a home run. This isn't just a pipe dream - it's the future of construction. It can help us to Eliminate additional hardware or software required for document storage and retrieval. We can have improved security and Better tracking with digital footprint. [paperless meetings & paperless validation]
1. Improve security with permission levels as well removing physical files from risks associated with building security, and fire and water damage.
2. Track all the interactions people have with documents.
3. Own and archive all of your data.
4. Easily locate, review, edit, and share your documents with others.
However, One of the challenges of too much new technology is the significant amount of data it’s creating.
These kinds of non-structured data need special handling to become searchable so people can find them when they need them.
But we all can be assured of one thing. Technology is here to stay and Migrating your paper-based documents to digital and the cloud is just the beginning...

#Construction #Paperless #ConstructionManagement #ProjectManagement